Wednesday, January 07, 2009

How do YOU like it?

Reading your books that is. Are you a diehard gotta hold the book in your hand reader?Do you like to listen? If so what are you doing while you listen--driving? Exercising? Relaxing?If you like to listen--what's your format of choice?And as fellow blogger K.L. Pinson(myspace.com/klpinson ) asked the other day--what do you think of the new "EReaders" like Kindle?We're curious--so let us know what you think...

4 Comments:

Tina in SF said...

I do all formats :)

However, hard covers and even trade paper can be hard to hold for extended periods due to my rsi. My thumbs can also suffer from long bouts with mass markets, but the thumbthing thumbrest improve the experience. I've even found it makes reading in bed comfy because I can comfortably hold the book open at the top.

While I like the specs on the Sony reader (kindle seems to large and ungainly), I currently enjoy reading Mobipocket format ebooks on my Palm pda. I hate ebooks on my Ipod Touch though.

The high resolution screen is crisp and sharp, but displayed content is often tiny! Resizing doesn't help because enlarged text requires scrolling to see stuff offscreen. The various ebook readers lack the autoscroll and text reflow features that make Mobi books a pleasure to read on my Palm TX screen. I don't like the trend of tying srolling to the acceleromter because I don't want to have to balance my Touch when lying in keep it from scrolling when I don't want it to. I also miss the ability to choose from many backgorund colors as I've found black text on a red background combats glare and related discomfort when in a dark room. Ihpone Mobi will probablay never happen since Amazon is all about Kindle these days, but I've been buying multiformat books at fictionwise in anticpation of an updated or new reader that meets my requirements.

Anyone seeking to put ebooks in the app store should also be aware of Apple's censorship. They sell music and movies with profanity and such, but may reject ebook containing the same elements. An episode of the Dilbert tv show about artificial insemination even had the word sperm sanitized as s***m in the product description. Please visit Scott Sigler's blog to read his experience with creating an app for his book The Rookie.

Last of all, I've increasingly turned to audio (podcasts & otherwise) as both treats and time saving devices. Great narrators enliven great fiction and non-fiction and I can listen while working, cleaning or whatever. My Audible membership make audio books very affordable.

I like the concept of holding something in my hand, so either the actual book or an e-reader will do just fine for me. I would be more likely to get my books faster. I don't like broken spines or bent pages. I guess I'm what you would call anal when it comes to my books.

What I would miss though is the actual covers, but I can get pass that.

I do listen to audio books from time to time. They have to be cd format or it just won't happen for me. It's clearer and that's all I have in my car besides my iPod.

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About Me

We are the author of Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made, Far From the Tree, Better Than I Know Myself,Exposures, Gotta Keep on Tryin'--the sequel to 1997's Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made,What Doesn't Kill You, and Uptown, a Novel. Note: we said "author" not "authors"
We have been best friends for more than 25 years and writing/working together for 20 of those years.